How will the plan affect you?

Put simply, Mrs May’s plan means less sugar in drinks and more exercise for children at school.

Funds raised from the levy on sugary drinks have been earmarked to be ploughed into school sports.

But leading think tank Taxpayers' Alliance believes there could be a number of hidden consequences for some of the UK’s poorest families.

Research from TPA shows that the sugar tax could lead to more government borrowing and higher taxes on hard-up families.

The levy will also unfairly hit the poor as families on the lowest incomes will buy fizzy drinks regardless, TPA said.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Star Online, Harry Fairhead, Taxpayers' Alliance Policy analyst, said: "Nannying, petty and ineffective are the last things that a government policy should be, but the sugar tax is all of them.

“It’s just another restrictive move by a government determined to stick its nose into other people’s business. The idea should be dropped.

“Sadly, the evidence shows that where such taxes have been tried, they’ve been unmitigated disasters that make almost no impact on the public’s waistlines.”

A spokesperson for the government said: “The levy will be charged on soft drinks because they are the main source of added sugar in children’s and teenagers’ diets, many with no intrinsic nutritional value.

“Health experts agree there is a specific problem with sugar-laden fizzy drinks that must be addressed.

“The money from the levy will go towards funding more school sport, and expanding school breakfast clubs.”

What do experts say about the plan?

Speaking to Daily Star Online, Tam Fry, spokesperson for National Obesity Forum, described the plan as a “cut-down series of proposals” that “don’t stand a chance of delivering”.

She said: “Whether or not the crisis is tacked from today, there will be a backlog of diseases – diabetes, cardiovascular, cancer – triggered by obesity.

“The less we do to prevent the crisis escalating, the more the backlog will grow.”

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CRISIS: Campaigns have warned the obesity crisis could bankrupt the NHS

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Dan Howarth, Head of Care at Diabetes UK, told Daily Star Online 11.9 million people are now at increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes due to being overweight.

Diabetes is a very serious condition and can result in an early death, amputations, and blindness, and also increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

He said the sugar tax was the step in the right direction, but stressed that without further action, the rising tide of obesity could threaten to bankrupt the NHS.

He said: “The government’s Childhood Obesity Plan, published early this summer, set out some important steps to lower the sugar in the foods we eat.

“But more needs to be done, especially to protect children from the marketing of junk food.

“To tackle this obesity crisis, we all need to take responsibility as individuals, and as a nation.”

But Harry Fairhead from TPA said the sugar tax will driving up the cost of living for ordinary families.

He added: “When politicians bleat about the high cost of living, they should remember that punitive taxes and big government are its major cause.

“There seems little justification for making people’s lives more expensive by demanding yet more tax – especially when it will make practically no difference."